Circling To New Beginnings
by Gottahavemyncis
Summary: His Gemcity contract fulfilled, Tim decides to turn his writing in different directions. Wanting to make a clear delineation between Gemcity and what comes next, he ponders making changes. Set in my "Pirates" 'verse, but stands alone ok. Season 11, Ziva's gone, Ellie's joined the team. Est. McGibbs, SLASH with NO sexual content. Written for the Anthroponomastics Challenge on NFA.


Tim smiled in relief as he copied and pasted the last scene into the last chapter of his last Tibbs story and added the word "Finis". He'd written the scene months ago and finally he'd finished the story, it was time. He saved his work to his encrypted files and stretched his arms, hearing the crack in his neck. Done! He and Mr. Gemcity were done after producing ten novels with the stories of Agents Tibbs, McGregor, Tommy and Lisa and the newest Tibbs' team member Thea, a name personally chosen for the character by Ellie Bishop. He sat back, remembering that conversation.

_"Tim, I have my name ready for you!" He looked at the floor between Tony's desk and his where she sat, back against the filing cabinet, ready to get to work on a cold case, snacks tucked in back of her. He slid down to sit next to her. _

_"Good – I'm glad you're excited about this, Ellie, means a lot to me." _

_"To you? I get to be immortalized, how cool is that? I'm grateful to you!" _

_Tim chuckled, "I wish you'd been around years ago when all this started, I sure could have used that perspective! So, what's it to be: Molly, Emily, Nicole…?" _

_She looked at him quizzically and then she laughed as she shook her head. "Nope, I'm going with Thea, the Greek goddess of light." _

_"Great! What made you pick that?" _

_"Eleanor means 'shining light' so I thought I'd look for something with the same meaning. There are several female names that mean various kinds of light. Thea seemed the strongest to me, although I did toy with Mahina. That's Hawaiian and means "moonlight" which I thought would be fun. But while it's a lovely name, it didn't say federal agent to me, not even a fictional fed. I like the strength in the sound of the name Thea and really, who could resist being a goddess?" _

Ellie's remarks had led him to some thoughts about his own name and his plans. Although he was done with his contractual obligation to Gemcity and Tibbs, he wasn't done writing by any means. Before he got started on whatever new path his writings took him, he first wanted a different penname. Lost in thought, he jumped a little and then chuckled as warm hands massaged his neck and shoulders. "Congratulations, Thom! You did it!"

"Ooh, that's so good J, thanks. Yeah, I wasn't sure I was going to get through this one but Tibbs pulled it off!"

His partner, now his legal spouse, laughed, "Sweetie, I've been up close and personal, living and breathing Tibbs through the last 6 books and you've said that about every single one!" He finished his shoulder rub and tenderly patted Tim's back.

"Can I read it now?"

Tim, still working the kinks out of his neck and shoulders, twisted his lips. "No, I'm going to let it sit overnight and then I'll do some editing. How about after that?"

"Hmm, when's your deadline again?" Gibbs smirked as he said the words, knowing full well the date of the deadline; for months it had been staring him in the face in big red numbers taped onto the refrigerator door.

Tim sighed, "All right. You can read it now, I'll let it sit for a few hours and then start editing. Hey, could you…"

"Make notes of anything I notice? Sure."

They had this down to a science, even Tim's wanting to let it sit for a few days when the looming deadline meant tomorrow was the day it had to be mailed. Unless of course he wanted to hand deliver it and Tim hated doing that, saying his publisher would make a fuss and always tried to manipulate him into a new jacket photo, more books and/or more book tours. This time would be worse as she was already pushing him for a new contract.

Gibbs had more questions he wanted to ask but decided to wait until after the manuscript had been mailed. For now, he sat in Tim's vacated chair in front of the laptop while Tim pulled the files up and changed the font size to something Jethro could read without his reading glasses. He was more likely to spot any problems that way too. Over time he'd become a halfway decent editor for Tim's works, and by now he was so used to it that he occasionally found himself mentally editing books, magazines and newspapers as he read. Rubbing his hands, he started reading the last three chapters, the only ones he hadn't seen yet.

They'd learned through experience that the only way this worked was for Tim to be out of the room, preferably not in the house at all while Jethro read. The older man smiled as he heard the front door close; that was good, Mr. Gemcity was going out for some fresh air. He pulled his notepad closer, he'd spotted something. Tim had long ago taught him how to mark the incorrect word or punctuation in red and Jethro did that now while he also wrote it in his notebook. He liked to check back later to make sure it was taken care of, what kind of partner would he be if he didn't have Tim's six on this?

They took the Porsche to the Yard the next day, detouring to the UPS store on the way to mail the manuscript and then stopping to buy pastries and beverages for everyone. Over the years that had also become a ritual, that the extended team would celebrate the completion of another book about them. This time was different as it was Bishop's first appearance in a Tibbs novel after Ziva had removed herself from their lives and of course it was the last Tibbs book. With the exception of Ellie who was thrilled to be immortalized by the intrepid Thea, the mood could only be described as happy with a touch of bittersweet.

Gibbs dismissed the team early that night, a Friday, as they had the weekend off and he was just as eager to get out of here as the rest of them. In fact he led the way, much to the amusement of their Director who was watching from his favorite perch on the catwalk.

Once home, the couple showered, changed and headed out to their favorite restaurant for a celebratory dinner. As they sipped their champagne, Jethro saw the pensive look. "Are you sad about the grand finale, hon?"

Tim huffed, "No, not really. I can write more about us if the spirit moves me, just not under contract." He smiled at his partner, "I'll tell you more at home."

As they walked up the steps to the front door a bit later, Tim nodded to himself, it was time. He took a deep breath. "J, you know I want to spread my wings as an author, write some children's books, maybe some other fiction."

"Uh huh."

"I don't want to use Gemcity for that. That just doesn't seem right, ol' Thom belongs with Tibbs and company."

Jethro chuckled as he made coffee for the two of them. "I'm not sure about the 'and company', Timmy, I'm not interested in sharing, but yeah, Thom certainly belongs with Tibbs, that's been true for several years now!"

Tim got the joke and gave him a kiss. "Sweet. However, what I meant was that I want to use another name now."

"Not Gemcity?"

"No, he's done – unless I do write another Tibbs."

"Will your publisher allow that?"

"I'll find a way. I don't want to be Gemcity anymore."

"Ok, so who do you want to be, what's your new name?"

"That's just it, J, it's not new and …well I don't know how you'd feel about it." Jethro looked at him puzzled and then covered his confusion by pouring coffee for the two of them. As he handed Tim's mug to him he remembered. "Cai…you're going back to Zubin Cai?"

"I'd like to, but only if it doesn't bother you."

Jethro slowly walked into the living room, thinking. He sat on the couch. "Zubin Cai is the penname you used when you were a teenager – that first contract Penny had to sign because you were too young."

Tim nodded as Jethro continued. "You wrote those wonderful Westerns and included Joey and your friends as characters – at their request." Tim nodded again. "Hon, are you worried because it's the name you used when you and Joey were together?"

Tim swallowed hard and Jethro pulled him into his arms. "Timothy, we've been together for 6 years now, there is absolutely no doubt in my heart that you love me wholeheartedly. I know Joey's still in your heart and that you'll always mourn him – just as Shannon is still in mine. But we're good; I'm not bothered or worried about you bringing Mr. Cai out of retirement. In fact I'm very happy about it, I loved those books…although a little curious as to why."

Tim smiled, relieved and happy. "Thanks J. You know I quit using Zubin Cai after Joey and the others died in the tsunami, they'd been such a big part of the books, I couldn't bear to use the name again. I'm circling back to it now because of that talk I had with Ellie about her name, she wanted to use a name with the same meaning as her own name. That's why I cobbled 'Zubin Cai' together in the first place - it was the closest I could get to the meaning of Timothy, "To honor God". I want to use it again, or resume using it for the same reason - it's still the closest I can get to the meaning of my name and now it feels like I'll also be honoring everything that's good in my life. Zubin is a Hebrew name that means 'to honor' and Cai was a Celtic god. It's a good strong name." Tim chuckled, "Which is another thing Ellie said, she liked her character's name because it's a strong name."

"I like that, Tim, I should say Zubin; our probie is a wise woman!"

Tim snorted, "I'll tell her you said so!"

Jethro mock growled at him, attacked him with a throw pillow which led to a tickle fest and that was the end of the discussion.

The following week, Tim met with his publisher. She was familiar with the Zubin Cai books and was thrilled to resurrect the name and add it to the publishing house. She was not so thrilled when this time Timothy refused a jacket photo altogether and they had their usual wrangle about publicity tours.

When Tim finally sat down to write his first Zubin Cai novel in over a decade the first thing he did was to write the dedication, to all his lost friends, including Kate and Ziva, and to his very present life partner. In a way, he felt as if he had now made a complete circle to begin something new.

**-FINIS-**


End file.
